Maher, Heroes, See You Later Alligators

Maher means "mother's house" in Marathi, and is a destitute women's and children's shelter outside of Pune. Run by nuns, they have about 20 houses in villages throughout Maharashtra. It's mostly Indians helping Indians.

Since Maher helps out battered women and the like, it is still somewhat controversial in male-dominant rural India. I met one social worker, an Indian father of 2, who was beaten -his life threatened by the local villagers. His reaction was he'd rather die than leave, and 10 year's later, Maher is a mostly accepted Marathi institution. This guy is a hero.

There's about 100 heroes here, all under the radar. It was also great to see my friends (2 angels from God-knows-what planet) just doing their thing every day, loving the kids, helping however they can. 2 more heroes.

In about 40 hours I'll be home, probably staggering around Ralph's wondering what the f--- just happened. I've been thinking how best to sum up my experience here and I realized it's impossible, so instead I'll just thank you again for reading and indulging me, and leave you with a quote I picked up in the ether. So, thank you.

"Money doesn't buy happiness until you give it away, and real heroes do their job while no one's looking."

Thank you India,
yt